Alarming Findings

Alarming Findings

Report: Game Reviews Create Bias

LOS ANGELES -- The act of playing a video game, and then writing down one's opinions to be read by others, creates unfair biases against games the reviewer did not like, according to a report released today by independent advocacy group People Looking at Games Under Extreme Scrutiny (PLaGUES).

The report -- Game Played: How Unfavorable Press Coverage Affects Sales -- documents the connection between game reviewers who speak poorly about certain games and public reluctance to pay money for them, concluding that negative reviews create a bias which results in poor sales for games that do not review well.

"It's about time these game reviewers got taken to task for their unfair swaying of public opinion," said Randy Dibswillow, President of developer Crackup Games. Crackup's latest release, Let's Wank for the Nintendo Wii, currently has a 5% review average on Metacritic and has sold fewer than 300 copies.

"We spent weeks, if not months, on that game, and that's not including the days of testing," Dibswillow said. "We really wanted to nail the controls. But reviewers don't care about all that work; they just want to be funny. A few people worked several hours on Let's Wank, and that game deserves to be played."

"It's a game about wanking," said Jack "Bucky" McIntosh, Reviews Editor at popular game site Insert Coin. "Like, that's all you do. You make wanking motions with the Wii Remote and it gives you a score...somehow. How can you charge money for that?"

Dibswillow has gained support in the game industry, including an endorsement from That Giant Video Game Company President Maximillian Kaust. That Giant Video Game Company's Space Marine 5 also drew the ire of game journalists when it shipped with only half of the game on the disc.

"First of all, the claims that we shipped half a game are just wrong," Kaust said. "We at That Giant Video Game Company believe, first and foremost, in quality, and those three levels are the best you're going to find anywhere. We were looking forward to extending the experience of Space Marine 5 through three brand-new levels available as for-pay downloadable content, but I don't know that that's going to happen now. Thanks a lot, game reviewers. I hope you're happy."

PLaGUES spokesperson Janet Hobson-Dibswillow expanded on the group's findings, saying, "It's really shocking what the media is doing to these companies. These are good people who work hard for their creative visions. Back before the Internet, we didn't have all these smartass kids bending the public to their wills, and companies like Crackup and That Giant Video Game Company could release shitty games and they sold great. Wait...did I say 'shitty games'? I meant 'games.'"

When asked if PLaGUES would be running a study to examine the effects of positive reviews on public opinion, Hobson-Dibswillow responded, "I don't really see the value in that."